Machine-gun



G. D. HASKELL.

MACHINE GUN. APPLICATION FIL-ED OCT. l0. 19H.

1,379,339, Patented May 24, 1921.

Invenov UNIT-sn STAT-es;

ifArEin? @Fn-CE;

GEonenn ,HASKVE'LL or CONCORD, MASSAHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To U'NI'TEn*S'J'JATNS MAGHINE GUN COMPANY, OF BOSTON, -MASSAGAUSETTS,I A"OOBLPORATIONOLF MASSACHUSETTS.

MAOHINE-GUN.

'Patented May'za, 1921.

Apiuicatio filed October 1o, 1917. serial No. 195,812.

To LZZww/mz't may cof/www.' Y Y. i Be it known that IQGEORGE D. HAsKnnL,a citizen of the United Stated-and a 'resident of Concord, countylofMiddlesex, and

`State of Massachusetts, .whose post-office address is 40 State street,Boston, Massa- J chusetts, have invented an Improvement in Machine-Guns,of which thek following description, in VAconnection with. theaccompanying drawings, isa specication, like characterson-the drawingsrepresenting like `This invention relates to firearms andmoreparticularlfyto machine guns and automaticguns, and has for itsobject more especially to provideimproved means for airi cooling Ythesame.

The objects land" aims Aofthe invention will be best understood from the:following description, taken in connection with the y.accompanyingdrawings,- of---Several 'embodi- :ments ofthe invention'shown' anddescribed for illustrative purposes, Vit being .under- Stood that theinventionvin its 'true Scopefis definitely set forth by the claims.

In the drawings: j

kFgure l is Ya side elevation ofa rpart of 4a machine igunl embodyinglone illustrative .form of the 'present invention; v

` Fig. Q'iSalOngitudinal section of Fig. l, thebarrel and cooling sleevesurroundin same beingl shown ln'elevatlon;

Fig. 3` is `a longitudinal section, similar to 2, invention; y l n Fig.14-is `a longitudinal section, similar tol F ig.` 2, vof a further4embodiment of the invention;A 'Y

'of another embodiment of the Fig..j'5 is,V a cross 'Section5-onlinel5--15 of Fig. 1,'Ona somewhat ,enlarged scale,

-Fig.` 6 fis -adetailofoneillustrative means eningr thev sleevesurrounding the ,4 y

` -to that,T end IiS Anot Secured 'toSa-idnozzle 14 and member .4,butis'fmounted for ,swing-f i nl .the renewing Luegeiiptin, muy so muchof the gunstructure will'bedescribed f Yas is necessary to anunderstanding fof the ,present inventions"- To the ybarrel 2.- there -isrigidly lsecured adjacent the rear' Vend thereof' andvinV any Ysuitablejfmannen a sleevelike member 4 surrounding i'said barreland-*providing an y,air space' around the latter; Said` memberrespectively, as

"41s. pr0videa wana port s, Saiaprtgin 55 l s VVVthey illustrativeembodiments of the inven-j' tionl herein disclosed, lbeing provided atthe under side of saidmember 4 and being-off* suiiicient Size'to'allowfreeaccess Yofthe n outer air to .the interior of saidmemben 60 .It-,1s-to 'be understood, however, that said portcould be otherwiselocated inysaid mem- ,ber orthatseveral vports could be provided; suitably placedwith good results, but -,the

particular Aarrangement herein shown and described is of specialutility.; c

Adjacent the m-uzzle of the barrel there Ais removably secured to thelatter a spider@` l0, said spider.beinghereinshownas,se-

vcuredvto said muzzle by a clamping screw .or screws `12. Saidspideryl()has rigidly l, secured thereto Vby Vrivfetingor otherwise in anysuitable'manner lanozzlev 14', surround-fv That Y part ofthe barrel'between ,the ,noz-f jzleV 14 and` the xmember l4vis normallyA in- 80Yclosed by a cylindricalbasing, said casing being ofv somewhatlargerdiameter atvits endswhichv it over therear end of the noz-5 2 zle14 and thev front end of the member 4,.

.clearlyv shown' in Figs. 2,13 85 and4f 'V- y n accordance with the`present invention, t this 'casing'l is fmade in two parts,fthe vlower;

part or lhalf lfbeing rigidly securedat l front a-nd rear.endsfbyrivetingor in `any other [suitable manner .to the rear end oftheVVnozzle 14. and Lthe frontend of themember t 4, respectively Ywhilethe. upper part. ore;

. half" l8gof' saidg-casing is intended 'tobef movable toexposerfthdbarrel. for a pur- 'n pose hereinafter more fullyffdescribed,'and ingf-movement Aupon the Alower halfv 16; Herein the upperpart1or.,-,sectionfl8 ofthe v10() casing is .hinged to thelower-fsectionl, as shown .ijnuFigs.` `l and 5, inthe-embodiment of .theinvention shown Vin said.;

, three such hingesY-QObeing used` for thepur-" Y pose, butit willbeapp'arent that anyother 105 means 'could Vbe uemployed @to permit `thev casing to be opened, without departing from vthe soopefofthev-lnvention, n L gi Any suitable means may be provided yin accordancewith this Vinvention for securiingfthe upper section'18 ofthe casing 1nclosed position, such as one or more swing bolts 22dpivoted to ears24upon thevupper section and adapted to lcooperate Zinwell'y known vmannerwith ears 28 upon'fthe lower [section 16, said swing bolts beingprovided"v ywith wing nuts 26. Thetwov sections landy f 18 being closedandv said wing nuts being loosened,-the bolts 22 canl be swung inwardlyto'engage between ears 28, whereupon-by tightening vsaid Vwing nuts thesecy llliclampedtogether. f The ears28 will preff tions 16vfand'1-8 rofthe ca'singfwill besecurely erably beV provided ywith afdownwardly prolvrjecting lip 30vr at their outer edges, behind which i' the vwing nutbecomes seated f when' tightened, thus 'adding'to the security of thefastening. `Only one of V`said VVVfastening means isiherein shown inFigs. 5 and 6, but preferably'onewill lbe provided `opposite each of thehinges. f v f In theembodiments of the invention herein shown, thebarrel 2 is provided withj a fsleeve 32 that is lo'ngitudinallyvr iutedvr*or groovedfor provided with longitudinal ribs,

as shown at 34, upon lits outer surface, said `grooves',flutings orribs, preferably extendving spirally about said sleeve,l

The sleeve 32 wi h `'ts' ribsor iutings l Vis Vintended to promote thedissipationlof ISIS- heat and thus' assist in cooling the'barrel, and. fi that"J this may be accomplished. as.effectivelyvk Vas possible saidsleeve and the'flutings or ribs thereon will preferably be made of somematerial possessing `a ,high coeiiicient :of thermal conductivity, suchas aluminum. The casing may also be made Vof similar material to thesame end. For thesamev purpose, the sleeve with its ribs and the 'casingwill preferably be blackened.

In the embodimentsof the invention herein disclosed, the sleeve .32V isapplied to aV portion of the barrel only, herein the reary portion, thatis to say to'that portion which becomes the most heated'by'the ring ofthe gun, but it will be apparent that the sleeve 32 could be extendedthroughoutja greater length of the barrel or even throughout the wholelength thereof if that should be lfound expedient or desirable.

With the twofsections 16 and 18of the casing Vsurrounding the barrelsecurely closed, Y M Qtheffiring of thelgun will at each'shot expel aportion ofthe'air from the nozzle 14 and V'thus cause a certain amountofthe outer air to enter the vrear end ofsaid casing through the port 8,and in' continuous firing a substantially'constant or continuous flow ofair will thus beproduced along and about the barreland sleeve 32 withinsaid casing, lthe air entering at'the rear of said casing Vand pouringout through the nozzlel4, and

this continuous flow of fresh air Vover the y vIt is.v found ,in

provided with -ilutings vor ribs 34 will *carry off the 'heat radiatedthereby,r thus cooling they .Sleeve f,

and barrel. f Y p i practical-henares that wherebursts of firingarelc'ontinuousl-y prolonged beyond agcertain point, say for examplel1000 shots, the heatis generated or stored up within the casingmorelrapidly y,

thanit cank lbe carried olf bythe; draft of air through the casing and apoint will yinevitably be reached where the barrellbe-v comesL soheatedthat, in order to avoid intothe gun, the firing must be'sus-`pended'and the .gunallowedto cool before f rin'gy can be resumed.vv y Ithas been, found,y howevenithat owing'to'the'great amount ofA f heatVthat has.` become stored up lwithin'y the casingthe gun cools veryslowlygfor the fir# ing having ceased-there is no longeicreated' adraftVthrough the casing andthe heat has such action, the'k lay or. of the.lgun i v'By theil'lustrative arrangement above "described permitting thevcasing 'to be opened,

means are provided whereby the gun -can'be quickly cooled wheneverdesired; yFurther- `100k more, this can be accomplished without changingthe position of :the gun or V,dis-

turbingthe aimiit being only necessary to unfasten the swing'bolts 22and throw back the upper section of the casing as' soon as Vthefringrceases, thus alfording-free'egress' to the heat so that thefgu'nisquickly cooled to a point where `firing can be resumed.`

ln order to secure' a tightclo'sing of the casing and thus not-impairthe draft there sok through during the firing of theI gun, the-A i uppersection 18 -of the casing-willprefen ably be provided with a recess 36along each edge, see Fig 5, into which fitsr a corresponding rib 38Vprovided Valong the inner edges of the lower Vsection 16.

V*In Fig.3,the inner wall of the casing is annular projections "40throughout a part. of its length,',thusbring-V ing/the circulatingairint'o moreintimatev Contact with thesleeve 32 atfthosepoints.'

In :F 1g. 4, the casing is shown as lprovided Lwith raidally disposedribs or fins 42 dis- -posed'longitudinally of itsinner wall and withfurther'radially4 disposed ribs or fins tor, or, if integral withthecasing, the cas- 44'jeritending longitudinally of its gouter fwall toassistrin thedispersion of the heat. These iins or ribs'42 and 44 maybe' made of aluminum' or any Vother goodheat 'conducing itself may bemade of that metal or material. i

In the embodiment of the invention shownV in Figs. 4 and 7, to form theupper and lower sections 18 and l16, the casing is divided through thetwo diametrically opposed horizontal ribs 42 and 44, and two dividedportions of the rib 44 upon one side of 'said casing being hingedtogether at 46, as shown in Fig. 7, by three suitably'spaced hinges forexample, and the two parts of the divided rib 44 upon the opposite sideof the casing being detachably secured together by swing bolts 48 eachpivoted in a slot l50 of the upper part of said rib and engaging a slot52 provided in the lower part of said rib.

In this construction also, in order lto secure a tight closure of thecasing, the upper parts of the divided ribs 44 are provided withlongitudinally extending ribs 54 that engage correspondinglongitudinally extending recesses 56 in the lower parts of said ribs.

It will thus be seen that there is herein described apparatus in whichthe several features of this invention are embodied, and which apparatusin its action attainsl the v various objects of the invention and'iswell suited to meet the requirements of practical use.

As many chanes could be made in the construction described, and manyapparently widely different embodiments of the invention couldV beconstructed without departing from the scope thereof, it is intendedthat all matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimited-sense.

Claims.

1. A gun having in combination, a barrel, a casing surrounding the sameand extended forwardly beyond the muzzle of the barrel, air portsentering said casing near its opposite end, whereby firing ofthe gunwill cause a current of air to enter the casing at said port, flow'alongthe barrel to cool the same and escape at the outer end of the casing,said. casing having outwardly extended heat radiating ribs thereon, thecasing'split longitudinally through'a plurality of Said ribs, and hingedto open along one of the rib ends, recesses in two of the splitvportions of said ribs and beads on the opposite split portions of saidribs to enter the recesses whereby the casingymay be opened throughoutits length to further admit air within the same. V

2. AV gun having in combination, a barrel, l

an aluminum casing surrounding the same and extended forwardly beyondthe muzzle of the barrel, air ports entering said casing near itsopposite end, whereby firing of the gun will cause a current'of air toenter-the casing at said port, flow along the barrel to about, and afixed casing member 16 therefor, having a nozzle 14 extending beyondVthe muzzle of the gun, said casing having the port 8 at its rear end,outwardly ex- 1 tended ribs 44 thereon7 the casing split-longitudinallythrough said-ribs and hinged.

thereat, to open along Y onerof said ribs'to admit air to the barrelthroughout substantially the length thereof, twoA of said split v ribportions having recesses 56 in the faceof the same andthe correspondingsplitv rib portions havingbeads 54 thereon to enter'v said recesses whenthe casing members are closed.

4.In a gun, the combination withitheV barrel 2, of the sleeve 4, havingthe port-8, spider 10 and nozzle 14, the casing comprising the closedsection'l16 and hinged section 18, swing bolts 22 on the section 18adapted to coperate with the ears 28 on the section 16; andthe sleeve 32on the barrel 2.'

In testimony whereof, I have signed my.

name to this specification.

GEORGE D. HASKELL.VV 1A

